Windows Security Alert

[Nikilet]

Dell XPS 410/Vista Home Premium/2 GB RAM/BitDefender Internet Security 2009

I performed a clean boot and installed Service Pack 1. I didn't think there were any problems; then later in the day I got a Windows Security Alert that stated Windows Defender and Spyware Doctor were turned off. That's as it has always been and should be because BD has antispyware. I just open Spyware Doctor about once a week (with all real time protection disabled), update it and run a scan. This alert finally stopped so I went ahead, did a clean boot and installed Service Pack 2. Same thing all over again only this time it said my antivirus was out of date, even though I updated BD a number of times. Again, the alert went away and I thought all was ok.

The next day I got the alert again; this time it was back to the antispyware warning, and this time I can not get rid of it. I know I can turn off the alerts, but what I want is to find out what is causing this and fix it.

I ran the command line SCF /SCANNOW as administrator and when it was done it said "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations."

When I Googled this someone said to run the command to check WMI and it was consistent so that wasn't the problem.

My computer is running fine except for this, and according to BitDefender everything is up and running. Can anyone offer any knowledge or solutions on this?

[kaninelupus]

It actually doesn't sound like a major issue.

Along the way, Vista (and seeing this a little in Win7 as well), Windows has changed a couple of times over, the way AV's/Anti-malware apps and suites report back to Windows to let the system to advise all is updated (both in terms of AV version and AV signatures.

Being that SP2 has only just been rolled out, it merely sounds like BT has not yet updated its reporting method (with BT that really doesn't surprise me to be perfectly honest). The other thing is to be sure to use the Compatibility Manager (via the Properties window, opened by right-clicking and selecting "properties" on the given exe file) to ensure is running as Admin - this does ensure any updates BT tries to apply roll out as smoothly as possible.

Just as an aside, just be wary of running Windows Defender in tandem with other full anti-malware suites, as can lead to conflicts - is a case where to similar apps can be less effective than running on good one. I know Endpoint turns off Defender on install, but that may have to do with Endpoint being corporate level and a little more intuitive.

[Nikilet]

Thank you for your answer. I don't run Windows Defender; have had it disabled from day one. I take it you do not like BitDefender much. To be honest with you, I sure don't like their tech support because it's practically non-existent. However, the program has always run real nicely on Vista, doesn't seem to take up a lot of resources, boots fast. Anyway, I'm still waiting to hear from BD and that might never happen, but in the meantime, don't think I will worry over this anymore.

[kaninelupus]

Just as an aside, in making the recent move to Win7 x64, had to do some real scrounging for a decent AV/Anti-malware (preference for bundled firewall to minimise resources used by multiple apps), as Endpoint not yet fully compatible with the new OS.

Came across Comodo ; not a bad option. It has already been updated at least three times since Win7 RC1 hit the ground, so does go to show they are putting in the effort to keep it at its best.

I know each will have their own preference, but I do feel Comodo is really not as well known as it deserves to be.

[Nikilet]

I would have to rate myself only a bit above novice when it comes to computers. From what I've read about Comodo the ratings have been pretty good. Unfortunately, I think it requires way too much interaction for me. I had the free version once and it was just too much for me. I somehow ended up with a virus (this was on my previous computer with Windows XP) and I'm sure it's probably because I clicked OK to something I shouldn't have because I didn't know what else to do. There were just continuous pop ups asking me to either OK or block something and I was lost.

I probably would have switched security software simply because BitDefender's technical support totally stinks, but every other thing I checked into and Googled seemed to have so many varied problems. I was thinking about Trend Micro at one point, also Kaspersky, and have heard a lot of good things about something called NOD32 or something like that. I just renewed this BitDefender for two years, but now I have this little problem and they just leave me hanging so almost wish I hadn't.